William g



@HEUTE BATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM G. GRIMES, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR 'IO HIMSELF AND R. B. FITTS, OF SAME PLACE.

WASHING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 23,527, dated April 5, 1859.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, `WILL1AM C. GnrMns, of the city of Philadelphia, in the Stat-e of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in l/Vashing-Machines; and I de hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l, represents a vertical transverse section of a washing machine having my improvement applied thereto; and Fig. 2, a top view of the same, like letters in both figures indicating the same objects.

My invention consists in suspending within a wash-box, two wash-boards, or corrugated (or otherwise formed) plates, each depending from its own rock shaft so as to oscillate freely within the said box-the bottom, of the latter, having a double curvature in the form of two arcs of circles concentric with the centers of the rockshafts, respectively, and the said washboards having between them and attached to each, an apron which, by its length and slack, forms a kind of open sack to contain and protect the clothes,-the back washboard being held in a vertical or slightly inclined position, by means of a spring which is attached, at one end, to a lever project-ing from its rock shaft, and at the other, to the box, so as to allow the said washboard to yield somewhat, to the pressure of the front wash-board, when the latter is operated or oscillated, by means of the hand lever attached thereto, or its equivalent, so as to produce the necessary amount of pressure and other action upon the clothes between, substantially as hereinafter described Ag-whercby l. am enabled, while the clothes are in the het suds or water, both to squeeze and rub them suiiiciently, within the protecting apron between the two washboards, to force out and remove the dirt tc. therefrom, in a more easy, rapid and effectual manner than heretofore; and with less of the destructive wear and tear which arise from sliding the clothes while they are in direct contact with a corrugated or grooved surface.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my improved washing machine, I will proceed to describe it more minutely.

In the drawings, A, represents the washbox supported at a convenient distance from the floor upon legs, as usual; B, the back or yielding wash-board; C, the front or operating wash-board; and D, the apron or open sack for protecting the clothes while being operated upon between the said two washboards.

The back board (B) is suspended, in an edgewise position, from a rock-shaft, c, by means of two radial arms f, f, which project, downwardly therefrom, nearly to the bottom of the box A, the said shaft (e) having journals at its ends which rest in bearings in the upper edges of the end pieces of the said box (A) and having also another and longer arm, g, extending radially, therefrom, at a right angle with the arms (f, f,), or so as to project a short distance beyond the back of the said box (A), where it is attached to the lower edge of the said box, by means of a spiral spring, It, as shown in Fig. l.

rllhe front or operating board (C) is also suspended, in like manner, from a rockshaft, z', by mea-ns of two radial arms 7c, which project downwardly therefrom nearly to the bottom of the box (A), where they connect with the said board (C) by means of a hinge ,22, on each, the upper edge of the said board (C) having a metallic stay-piece g, fixed thereto, which projects out under and across the rock-shaft (i), and is pierced with holes for the insertion of a stay pin 1', which passes loosely through the said shaft (2') for the purpose of fixing the said board (C) at any suitable angle of inclination to the arms (/c, 715,).

rlhe shaft has journals at its ends which rest in bearings in the upper edges of the end pieces of the box (A) and has also an arm, or arms, Z, projecting radially therefrom over and beyond the front side of the box (A), and in such a manner as to be entirely free to be vibrated up and down and thereby to produce a backward and forward, or oscillating motion in the front wash-board (C), the two boards (B and C) being, in length, a little less than the space between the two ends of the box (A), and suspended from their rock-shafts a sutlicient distance apart to admit of adjustment in the front one so as to bring it nearly parallel (vertically) with the other board (B) when the clothes to be washed are pressed between them. The width of the apron (D) is also made a little less than the length of the space which is between the two ends of the box (A), and has one of its ends tacked fast alon near the upper edge of the back wash-board (B), while the other is secured, in the same manner, along near to the upper edge of the front or operating wash-board (C), so as to produce a slack in the same nearly suflicient to reach the bottom of the box (A) whenrthe said boards (B and C) are in their normal positions, as seen in the drawings.

Both of the wash boards (B and C) are either grooved horizontally, or covered on their approximate sides with corrugated sheet-metal, in the usual manner, and also perforated with holes adn, to allow the passage of water through them. The parts of the bottom m and m, of the box (A) are curved so as to be concentric with the centers or axes of the rock shafts (i and e) respectively-the one curve (m) reaching from 1, to 2, and the other (m) from 2, to 3, a seen in Fig. 1. r

Operation: The normal positions of the wash-boards (B,and 0,) with their rockshafts and levers, being as represented (by the black lines) in the drawings, hot water or suds is run into the box (A) until its surface reaches near the dotted line, 0, when the clothes to be washed are dropped between the wash-boards (B and C) and pressed down so as t-o rest upon the apron (D). The board (C) having been adjusted to such an angle as may be required by the bulk of the clothes to be washed, the operator takes hold of the radial lever (Z) and, pressing it downwardly, pushes the clothes up firmly against the back wash-board (B) which, yielding somewhat to the said pressure in consequence of the elasticity ofthe spring f ZL), there is produced in consequence thereof and of the fact that the boards (B and C) oscillate on different centers or axes, a sort of sliding motion of the one board in respect to the other-the clothes being in the apron (D) between them-which, being repeated three or four times in short, quick movements, causes the clothes to be rubbed or rolled while they are at the same time squeezed between the said boards (B and C). rPhe lever (Z) is now raised higher, and the wash-board (C) thus drawn back farther, allows the clothes to fall over, and also have time to reabsorb the water or suds. The water which is forced from the clothes through the perforations in the back board B), when the lever (Z) is pressed down as described, flows back again through the same perforations (wf-01,) and also through the spaces at the edges of the board, when the said lever (Z) is raised to let -the clothes fall back, as described-fthe apron (D) at the same time, protecting the clothes from direct frictional contact wit-h either of the wash boards (Bor C), or with the bottom of 'the box (A) And so on, the operator repeats the movements described, until. the clothes 'have become as clean as the water-which will be in a comparatively short time-when they may be removed and rinsed in the usual manner.

The wash-board (C) being attached to the arms (lc-k) of its rock-shaft by means of the hinge in each, and to the rock-shaft itself, by means of the stay-piece (0) and pin (1"), as described, it can therefore be adjusted by these means, in a moment, to any angle thereon which may be required to bring the said board (C) suiiiciently near to a parallelism (vertically) with the back board (B)-when the clothes are pressed bet-ween, as described-thus enabling the operator to adjust the machine so as to produce the best results, on all occasions. Y

Y @ne posit-ion of this adjustment is shown by the red lines Zc, g', and C, in Fig. 1,- the hand-lever (Z) being supposed to be pressed down to the position shown by the dotted line Z. Y

I am aware that a yielding backewashboard has been used before in combination with an operating wash-board-both being suspended over a single curve bottom, from journals working in the sides of the washbox, and without a connecting apron; as in the patent of E. Lakens of March 9, 1844;' and also that a connecting rod has been attached to a spring-board, by means of a knife-edge joint, confined by straps and backing piece, so as to be adjustable; as in Egbert and Greens patent of September 14, 1852; therefore I do not claim either of the said combined arrangements of devices; but

)What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,-

The combined arrangement of the two, parallel rock shafts (c and i), having the washboards (B and C) attached thereto, respectively, and connected together by the flexible apron (D) as described, in combination with the double-curved bottom (m and m) of the box (A) the same operating together'in-the manner and for the purpose set forth and described.

XNM. C. GBIMES.

)Vitnessesr JOHN E. POTTER, GEORGE T. STUCKERT. 

